By Chyung Eun-ju
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The right to vote is a freedom in Korea but Brazilians do not have a choice. How successful is the voter's turnout?
In Korea it is soaring. A record number of South Koreans have cast their ballot in the early voting period. To be exact, more than 11 million people, or 26.06 percent. That was a huge improvement from 12.2 percent in the last general election, but it was the first time early voting was available during the presidential election.
Mostly holiday goers and the younger generation took advantage of this opportunity. There was even the highest proportion of overseas voters across 116 countries. Despite the short window of time to register since the impeachment of former President Park Geun-hye, registration went up by 70,000 compared to five years ago. The overall turnout was 77.2 percent, which was the highest in 15 years.
The younger generation saturated with political interest made it a priority to watch presidential debates and actively participated in rallies to support candidates.
"It is a duty as a citizen of a democratic nation to vote. And to vote you must familiarize yourself with the candidates," said a 21 year-old student from Seoul National University.
She added, "I hope people take more time to see the candidates' true colors rather than just ignorantly vote based on superficial facts."
An unemployed graduate of Korea University said, "I did not participate last year because I didn't think it mattered much who was president. But after the impeachment scandal, I really felt like it was a duty."
While, it is voluntary to vote in Korea, in Brazil voting is mandatory between the ages 18 and 70, and the only exceptions are illiterate individuals, teens between 16~18 years old, adults over 70 years old and impeached politicians who have had their political rights suspended.
If one fails to vote, one must justify the absence to the Electoral Justice and pay a penalty fee of around $1. If one does not abide, individual civil rights are suspended and the person is no longer allowed to be issued a passport or ID, enroll in a public school or university, receive loans from public banks, or work as a civil servant. The result? The voter turnout for the 2014 presidential election was 80.60%.
"In research we conducted, half of the voters of Sao Paulo said they were little to not interested about the elections. That is high. And people were not just disinterested, but they had a strong sentiment of rejection towards politics, because of the crisis, because of Lava Jato…" said Marcia Cavallari, CEO of Ibope to El Pais.
Francisco, an owner of a small market store in Ceagesp, said, "I don't know much about politics. I don't care."
A business student from FGV pointed out, "Voting should not be an obligation. That's why undeserving candidates become presidents. That's why Tiririca [a Brazilian clown] was elected as a federal deputy for Sao Paulo. His campaign was pure humor with the message, ‘What does a federal deputy do? Truly, I don't know. But vote for me and I will find out for you.' Many people voted for him because they thought it couldn't get any worse."
Gilmar Mendes, a Brazilian Justice of the Supreme Federal Court, pointed out that voting in Brazil was far from being an absolute obligation, since the penalty was so small.
Abstention in the first round of 2014 presidential elections was 19.4 percent, and there were blank or null votes. Senator Jose Reguffe stated in a discussion in Senado Federal, "Voluntary voting will improve the quality of political representatives. Many people vote without reflecting... [They] end up voting for anyone. Anyone, sometimes the only one they know." Moreover, he pointed out that the votes in this criterion would be a result of who has the most propaganda.
Roberto Romano, a professor from Unicamp, also agrees that compulsory voting is harmful to the democratic process. "People vote because they're scared." These factors hinder the selection of an adept president whereas in Korea, this year people were inspired to vote.
The writer lived in Brazil for 18 years and studied at Graded School. She currently studies at Seoul National University and works at Arirang TV. Her email address is: elainechyung@gmail.com.
In Korea it is soaring. A record number of South Koreans have cast their ballot in the early voting period. To be exact, more than 11 million people, or 26.06 percent. That was a huge improvement from 12.2 percent in the last general election, but it was the first time early voting was available during the presidential election.
Mostly holiday goers and the younger generation took advantage of this opportunity. There was even the highest proportion of overseas voters across 116 countries. Despite the short window of time to register since the impeachment of former President Park Geun-hye, registration went up by 70,000 compared to five years ago. The overall turnout was 77.2 percent, which was the highest in 15 years.
The younger generation saturated with political interest made it a priority to watch presidential debates and actively participated in rallies to support candidates.
"It is a duty as a citizen of a democratic nation to vote. And to vote you must familiarize yourself with the candidates," said a 21 year-old student from Seoul National University.
She added, "I hope people take more time to see the candidates' true colors rather than just ignorantly vote based on superficial facts."
An unemployed graduate of Korea University said, "I did not participate last year because I didn't think it mattered much who was president. But after the impeachment scandal, I really felt like it was a duty."
While, it is voluntary to vote in Korea, in Brazil voting is mandatory between the ages 18 and 70, and the only exceptions are illiterate individuals, teens between 16~18 years old, adults over 70 years old and impeached politicians who have had their political rights suspended.
If one fails to vote, one must justify the absence to the Electoral Justice and pay a penalty fee of around $1. If one does not abide, individual civil rights are suspended and the person is no longer allowed to be issued a passport or ID, enroll in a public school or university, receive loans from public banks, or work as a civil servant. The result? The voter turnout for the 2014 presidential election was 80.60%.
"In research we conducted, half of the voters of Sao Paulo said they were little to not interested about the elections. That is high. And people were not just disinterested, but they had a strong sentiment of rejection towards politics, because of the crisis, because of Lava Jato…" said Marcia Cavallari, CEO of Ibope to El Pais.
Francisco, an owner of a small market store in Ceagesp, said, "I don't know much about politics. I don't care."
A business student from FGV pointed out, "Voting should not be an obligation. That's why undeserving candidates become presidents. That's why Tiririca [a Brazilian clown] was elected as a federal deputy for Sao Paulo. His campaign was pure humor with the message, ‘What does a federal deputy do? Truly, I don't know. But vote for me and I will find out for you.' Many people voted for him because they thought it couldn't get any worse."
Gilmar Mendes, a Brazilian Justice of the Supreme Federal Court, pointed out that voting in Brazil was far from being an absolute obligation, since the penalty was so small.
Abstention in the first round of 2014 presidential elections was 19.4 percent, and there were blank or null votes. Senator Jose Reguffe stated in a discussion in Senado Federal, "Voluntary voting will improve the quality of political representatives. Many people vote without reflecting... [They] end up voting for anyone. Anyone, sometimes the only one they know." Moreover, he pointed out that the votes in this criterion would be a result of who has the most propaganda.
Roberto Romano, a professor from Unicamp, also agrees that compulsory voting is harmful to the democratic process. "People vote because they're scared." These factors hinder the selection of an adept president whereas in Korea, this year people were inspired to vote.
The writer lived in Brazil for 18 years and studied at Graded School. She currently studies at Seoul National University and works at Arirang TV. Her email address is: elainechyung@gmail.com.
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